Floating boom structures

ABSTRACT

An oil boom comprising an elongate screen of plastics foil material provided with buoyant bodies and weights to hold the boom in a substantially vertical position when afloat in the water, with a portion of the upper edge portion of the boom above the surface of said water. The boom comprises two superimposed sheets of plastics foil material which are welded together at a number of sequentially arranged points in the longitudinal direction of the boom to form substantially rectangular closed pockets located on the upper half of the boom in its position of use. Each pocket contains one filling body which extends the pocket to form a buoyant body of requisite buoyancy, said filling body being constructed of corrugated cardboard.

United States Patent [191 Larsson FLOATING BOOM STRUCTURES V [75]Inventor: Erik Johan Larsson, Gamleby,

Sweden [73] Assignee: Barracudaverken AB,Gamleby,

Sweden [22] Filed: Oct. 30, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 301,720

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 4, 1971 Sweden... 14097/7152 us. Cl. ..61/1F [51] int. Cl E021) 15/04 [58] Field of Search 61/1 F,5, 6;

. 210/242, DIG. 21

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,592,007 7/1971 Renner 61/1F 3,613,376 10/1971 Midby 61/1 F 3,686,870

8/1972 Blomberg 61/1 F [4 1 Sept. 11, 1973 3,718,001 2/1973 Harper 6l/lF Primary ExaminerMervin Stein Assistant Examiner-Philip C. KannanAtt0rneyRalph E. Parker et al.

[5 7] ABSTRACT An oil boom comprising an elongate screen of plasticsfoil material provided with buoyant bodies and weights to hold the boomin a substantially vertical position when afloat in the water, with aportion of the upper edge portion of the boom above the surface of saidwater. The boom comprises two superimposed sheets of plastics foilmaterial which are welded together at a number of sequentially arrangedpoints in the longitudinal direction of the boom to form substantiallyrectangular closed pockets located on the upper half of the boom in itsposition of use. Each pocket containsone filling body which extends thepocket to form a buoy ant body of requisite buoyancy, said filling bodybeing constructed of corrugated cardboard.

.7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENTED SEN Y I975 FlG.3

FIG.4

FLOATING BOOM STRUCTURES The present invention relates to an oil boom ofthe type comprising an elongate screen made of reinforced plastics foiland provided with buoyant bodies and weights for maintaining the boom ina generally vertical position when afloat, with a portion of the upperedge portion of the boom located above the surface of the water.

The object of the invention is to provide a boom structure or unit whichis light in weight and of small volume and which can be readilyconnected to similar structures to form a composite boom of desiredlength, and which has good sea-going characteristics, can be readilytowed after use, lends itself to manufacture from a relativelyinexpensible material using automatic manufacturing methods and whichcan be burned without economic detriment after being used only one time.

These desiderata are fulfilled with the boom of the present invention,which is mainly characterized in that the boom comprises twosuperimposed sheets of plastics foil material which are welded togetherat a number of sequentially arranged points in the longitudinaldirection of the boom to form substantially rectangular closed pocketslocated on the upper half of the boom in its position of use, and inthat each pocket contains one filling body which extends the pocket toform a bouyant body of requisite buoyancy, said filling body beingconstructed of corrugated cardboard.

The boom is suitably made of a reinforced plastics foil folded double atthe upper edge surface of the boom. A plastics rope is inserted at theupper edge surface of the boom. Filling bodies are mounted in positionin spaced side-by-side relationship and the two halves of the foldedfoil are welded together around the filling bodies to enclose the samein sealed pockets. At the lower edge portion of the boom there isinserted a further plastics rope which is secured by welding togetherthe foil halves on both sides of the rope. Finally, a number ofreinforcing rods are arranged at the lower edge of the boom and fixed inposition by welding together the foil portions. Between the buoyantbodies there is arranged a number of vertically extending rods of aplastics material, the rods being fixed in position by welding togetherthe foil portions on both sides of the rods. The plastics rods arewelded fast at the end edges of the boom to form bead-like end members.The foil, the rope and the rods are suitably made of polyethylene whichcan be burned without detriment from the aspect of environmentalpollution. The filling bodies are made of corrugated cardboard which canbe readily destroyed by burning.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, further features and advantages of the invention being madeapparent therewith. In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, fracturalview in perspective of a number of sections of a boom structureaccording to the invention, FIG. 2 illustrates the end portions of twoboom structures joined together by means ofa coupling, FIG. 3illustrates in perspective the upper end of the coupling shown in FIG.2, and FIG. 4 illustrates the arrangement of FIG. 3 in plan view withthe ends of two boom sructures coupled together. I

The boom structure of FIG. 1 comprises two superimposed sheets ofreinforced plastics material 10, E2 obtained by folding double a web ofplastics foil.

At the upper edge 14 of the foil sheets is inserted a plastics rope 16beneath which is inserted a number of filling bodies 18, the position ofwhich is fixed by welding the foil sheets around respective fillingbodies such as to enclose said bodies in a closed pocket 20.

Inserted between the pockets are vertically extending plastics rods 22which are fixed in position by welds made on either sidethereof. Thepurpose of the rods is to stiffen the boom when in use.

Each filling body comprises two substantially rectangular plates 24, 26made of cellular cardboard and bonded together with a suitable adhesive.Each plate consists of two outer layers and an intermediate layer ofcorrugated cardboard 28, 30. The plates are of the same thickness andlength but have different height such that the lower edges of the plateslie generally edge-to-edge with each other. In this way the lower halfof the-filling bodies is approximately double the thickness of its upperhalf so that the portion of the pocket accommodating the section of thebody submerged in the water and forming a buoyant body obtains thegreater volume, while the larger portion of the upper half of thefilling bodyis only half as thick and is intended to lie at leastpartially above the water to form a screen for screening-off any oilpresent on the surface thereof.

The described construction of the floating body formed by the pocketextended by the filling body provides a simple and inexpensive structurewith the use of an inexpensive filling material which in addition islight in weight.

To provide the desired rigidity of the buoyant bodies, the pleats of thecorrugated cardboard plates 24, 26 are arranged with their longitudinalextension at right angles to the longitudinal extension of the boom, asillustrated in FIG. 1. 1

Arranged and securely welded in the lower edge portion of the boom is afurther plastics rope 32, and arranged beneath the rope is a number ofreinforcing rods serving as weights to maintain the boom in a verticalposition when afloat in the water. The reinforcing rods haveapproximately the same length as the buoyant bodies, whereby the boomcan be folded to form a pack, by folding the boom backwards and forwardsat the vertical rods 22. A folded boom can be readily stored in atransport box of such construction that the short sides of the box andthe lid can be readily removed. The boom can be rapidly drawn from a boxof this construction and connected to a motor boat, for example, bymeans of the ropes 16, 32. The boom will thereby lie on the surface ofthe water while being towed and offers but small resistance to thewater, thereby enabling the boom tobe towed at relatively high speeds. A

The polyethylene foil used is suitably a 0.3 mm thick, double layerpolyethylene foil. The thickness of the cardboard plates is, forexample, 6 mm, so that the largest thickness of respective buoyantbodies is 12 mm. The ropes suitably have a diameter of, approximately 6mm. The distance between the vertical rods is, for example, 0.9 m andthe height of the boom is, for example, 0.7 m.

Each boom unit may have a length of 25 to 50 m and comprises a number ofsections, each having its respective buoyant bodyIl8. Two boom units cansuitably be coupled together by means of the coupling illustrated inFIGS. 2 to 4.

Each boom unit is provided at either end thereof with a verticallyextending rod securely welded along the whole of the length of the edgesurface of the boom and forms a bead-like edge member. Two suchbead-like edge members 36, 38 of two boom units 40, 42 are i1- lustratedin FIG. 4.

The coupling comprises two substantially rectangular strips 44, 46having a longitudinally extending groove 48, 50 arranged in one sidethereof. With the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the grooves facetowards each other. The strips are pivotally connected together by meansof a plastics strap 52 extending along the major portion of the lengthof the strips and securely welded to both of said strips, as illustratedin FIGS. 2 and 3. The plastics strap, while holding the strips togetheras shown, acts as a hinge to permit the strips to be swung away fromeach other to expose the grooves 48, 50. V

The strips extend above and below the upper and lower edge surfaces ofthe boom units 40, 42 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Arranged at the upper and lower ends of the two strips is a pivotablestirrup structure 54- which is mounted on one strip 46 and which can beswung from its open position, illustrated in full lines in FIG. 3, to alatching position, illustrated with chain lines, in which the two stripsare latched in a position with the grooves facing towards each other.

In the embodiment illlustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the end edge surface 36of one boom unit 40 is inserted in the groove 48 of one strip 46 towhich said boom unit is firmly joined as by gluing, for example. Whenthe strips are swung away from each other, the second groove 50 is thusfree and readily receives the bead-like edge member 38 of the other boomunit. Subsequent to placing said edge member into the groove, the stripsare swung towards each other to the position illustrated in FIG. 3, andthe upper and lower stirrup structures 54 are moved to their latchingposition.

What is claimed is: v

1. An oil boom comprising an elongate screen of plastics foil materialprovided with buoyant bodies and weights to hold the boom in asubstantially vertical position when afloat in the water, with a portionof the upper edge portion of the boom above the surface of said water,characterized in that the boom comprises two superimposed sheets ofplastics foil material which are welded together at a number ofsequentially arranged points in the longitudinal direction of the boomto form substantially rectangular closed pockets located on the upperhalf of the boom in its position of use, and in that each pocketcontains one filling body which extends the pocket to form a buoyantbody of requisite buoyancy, said filling body being constructed ofcorrugated cardboard.

2. An oil boom according to claim 1, characterized in that the pleats ofthe corrugated cardboard extend perpendicularly to the longitudinaldirection of the boom.

3. An oil boom according to claim 2, characterized in that the fillingbody comprises two substantially rectangular corrugated cardboard platesbonded together, said plates being of substantially the same length butof different height, and wherein the lower edges of the plates are inapproximate edge-to-edge relationship so that at least the major portionof the upper haif of the pocket and filling body has a smaller thicknessthan its lower half.

4. An oil boom according to claim 1, characterized in that a piasticsrope extending between the end edge surfaces of the boom is arranged atthe upper and lower edge surfaces of said boom.

5. An oil boom according to claim, characterized in that arranged atboth ends of the boom is a plastics rod which forms a bead-like edgemember intended to be coupled with a corresponding bead-like end memberon adjacent boom.

6. An oil boom according to claim 5, characterized in that one bead-likeedge member of the boom is secured in a groove in one side ofa stripextending along said end edge surface and externally of the upper andlower edge of the boom, and that the strip is hingedly connected with acorresponding strip having a groove in one side thereof in a manner suchthat the strips can be swung together with the grooves facing towardseach other, whereby the bead-like end member of an adjacent boom iscoupled to said firstrnentioned boom when said bead-like end member isplaced in the groove of the lastmentioned latching strip.

7. A boom according to claim 6, characterized in that pivotally mountedto the upper and lower ends of the latching strips is a stirrupstructure which can be moved to a position over the ends of the twostrips to latch the same together in a position with the grooves facingtowards each other.

1. An oil boom comprising an elongate screen of plastics foil materialprovided with buoyant bodies and weights to hold the boom in asubstantially vertical position when afloat in the water, with a portionof the upper edge portion of the boom above the surface of said water,characterized in that the boom comprises two superimposed sheets ofplastics foil material which are welded together at a number ofsequentially arranged points in the longitudinal direction of the boomto form substantially rectangular closed pockets located on the upperhalf of the boom in its position of use, and in that each pocketcontains one filling body which extends the pocket to form a buoyantbody of requisite buoyancy, said filling body being constructed ofcorrugated cardboard.
 2. An oil boom according to claim 1, characterizedin that the pleats of the corrugated cardboard extend perpendicularly tothe longitudinal direction of the boom.
 3. An oil boom according toclaim 2, characterized in that the filling body comprises twosubstantially rectangular corrugated cardboard plates bonded together,said plates being of substantially the same length but of differentheight, and wherein the lower edges of the plates are in approximateedge-to-edge relationship so that at least the major portion of theupper half of the pocket and filling body has a smaller thickness thanits lower half.
 4. An oil boom according to claim 1, characterized inthat a plastics rope extending between the end edge surfaces of the boomis arranged at the upper and lower edge surfaces of said boom.
 5. An oilboom according to claim, characterized in that arranged at both ends ofthe boom is a plastics rod which forms a bead-like edge member intendedto be coupled with a corresponding bead-like end member on adjacentboom.
 6. An oil boom according to claim 5, characterized in that onebead-like edge member of the boom is secured in a groove in one side ofa strip extending along said end edge surface and externally of theupper and lower edge of the boom, and that the strip is hingedlyconnected with a corresponding strip having a groove in one side thereofin a manner such that the strips can be swung together with the groovesfacing towards each other, whereby the bead-like end member of anadjacent boom is coupled to said firstmentioned boom when said bead-likeend member is placed in the groove of the lastmentioned latching strip.7. A boom according to claim 6, characterized in that pivotally mountedto the upper and lower ends of the latching strips is a stirrupstructure which can be moved to a position over the ends of the twostrips to latch the same together in a position with the grooves facingtowards each other.